FLORIDA POLITICS
Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

 

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
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Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

 

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The Blog for Friday, March 11, 2005

Witch Hunt: Sealed Indictments

    In one of the biggest political witch hunts in recent years, the "Jeb!" controlled FDLE*, spurred on by a local GOoPer hack (who Dyer trounced in the mayoral election), in an investigation controlled by a partisan State Attorney (brought in from Marion County) has issued indictments. It's all about absentee ballots and behavior engaged in by all campaigns, including Martinez, Hood, and many others - ironic that the only elected official targetted was a rising star in the Florida Democratic Party. See "Grand jury's indictments remain secret". See also "Four indictments issued in Orlando mayoral race probe".
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    *I say "'Jeb!' controlled FDLE", for a variety of reasons, including this insider view presented in a June 16, 2004 Orlando Sentinel guest column, "FDLE Sheds Core Values" (available on LEXIS), wherein former FDLE spokeswoman Elizabeth Wimberley Bernbaum wrote,
    During his first term, Gov. Jeb Bush regularly inserted himself into ongoing investigations of political or particularly sensitive natures while I worked with FDLE by requesting continuous updates and tacitly pressuring the agency at every level.
    You think "Jeb!" wants to bring down Buddy Dyer, the man who, while the Florida Senate Minority Leader, publicly objected to (leading to the cancellation of) H. W. Bush speaking, in the midst of an election, to the Florida Legislature.

    Update: Dyer and three others were indicted, and "Jeb!" promptly removed him from office. Dyer is charged with "'providing pecuniary gain for absentee ballot possession or collection,' according to their arrest affidavits." There is no claim of election fraud per se (votes were not changed or anything like that). Rather, he was indicted because his campaign allegedly paid a third party (who was also indicted) for supposedly picking up absentee ballots and mailing or delivering them to the SOE's office.

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